Travel to Oz through Asia alone in early 2009

collie1982

I plan on travelling to oz in early 2009 and i want to do a bit of travelling through asia on the way. At the minute i'm travelling alone because all my friends have either already been to oz or are out there at the minute.
I want to try and find out what it is like to travel through thailand and the other asian countries on your own. is it safe? is it easy to meet up with new people and continue travelling with them?

hussey

collie1982 wrote: »

I plan on travelling to oz in early 2009 and i want to do a bit of travelling through asia on the way. At the minute i'm travelling alone because all my friends have either already been to oz or are out there at the minute.
I want to try and find out what it is like to travel through thailand and the other asian countries on your own. is it safe? is it easy to meet up with new people and continue travelling with them?

I live in Oz and am planning to head to SE Asia in jan, i found myself asking the same question, I've travelled alone before but never through asia.

The vast majority of people I've talked to said YES. it is easy, once you are a foreign traveller other foreign travellers tend to have the same attitude. People are friendly and outgoing all you need to do is be the same.

Safety was an issue for me too, but as most people say keep your wits about you and you'll be okay, don't walk around flashing your money, keep it safe and keep it simple.

Keep photocopies/backups (could be good idea to scan and keep them in a email) of important documents somewhere.

Yeah people will try to scam you, but if it sounds dodgy it is dodgy, if it looks too good to be true then it is.

hexagramer

im leaving for aus in late feb, ill be spending 6 hours in hong kong. should be in teresting

Xavi6

I spent 10 hours in HK on the way over. It's not interesting.

justfortherecor

I decided to extend my stopover in Hong Kong when I flew to Sydney. Arrived in HK on a wed morning and then flew out again on thurs night.

Getting the green star ferry from Kowloon over to Central at dusk is one of the most spectacular sights I've ever seen. Worth the layover for that alone.

Added to that, I think spending a night in Hong Kong is worth it for the sole reason that it breaks up the 23hr hell of flying straight to Oz.

brendansmith

Xavi6 wrote: »

I spent 10 hours in HK on the way over. It's not interesting.

I wouldnt believe such an outragous comment except for the fact that you spent a whole 10 hours:eek::eek::eek::eek:.

Thats along time to spend in any country!!!

Xavi6

brendansmith wrote: »

I wouldnt believe such an outragous comment except for the fact that you spent a whole 10 hours:eek::eek::eek::eek:.

Thats along time to spend in any country!!!

*sigh*

The poster I was responding to said he is going to be spending 6 hours there and it should be interesting. I was making the point that even with 10 hours it's not interesting, i.e. you need a lot more time than that.

Doc

Xavi6 wrote: »

*sigh*

The poster I was responding to said he is going to be spending 6 hours there and it should be interesting. I was making the point that even with 10 hours it's not interesting, i.e. you need a lot more time than that.

Plus often times your not allowed out of the airport.

collie1982 I am going through SE Asia and then oz alone in early 2009 too I have my itinery set out here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055429535

I think if you can afford to go through SE Asia (Its a relatively cheap and easy place to travel through) first then you should. I think it will be something that you will regret if you don’t.

There will be lots of people like you and me travelling at the same time so meeting people and making friends on the way won’t be too hard and is one of the things I am looking forward to.

I’ve been researching it for months since I found out I would be made redundant and now cant wait to get going.

irelandsown

Hey op,

I'm in Singapore at the moment, waiting for a flight to Sydney in the morning. Just finished 8 weeks of travelling through SE Asia by myself. I did Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. I gave Vietnam a skip as there was bad flooding and I didn't really have the time as I stayed a bit too long in Laos. My advice would be to get out of Bangkok asap as its not a great place to meet people. If going to Chiang Mai, stay somewhere like Spicy Thai which is great for meeting others like yourself. Noom and Saow organise nights out for everybody which helps to break the ice. You will have no problem meeting other people and at no stage have I ever felt unsafe in SE Asia. In Cambodia, be wary of pickpockets though.

hertz

I left Ireland back in June with 2 other friends to Bangkok. We travelled the Asia leg together but we separated for a few weeks to do different things and I had a really good time on my own. In Asia I found if travelling on your own there are times you will have no one to talk to but if you keep to the backpacker trails you will meet other travellers just like yourself. If you meet other travellers you can bunch together on Accommodation, sharing a double or triple room works out cheaper in some cases. There are very few Dormitory style accommodation in Asia, mostly all guest houses. The Independant travel forum on this site is a very good source of info.